WATCH: Richmond secures upset of Iowa in highly controversial fashion
Both Iowa and Richmond won their respective conference tournaments to make the NCAA Tournament. But the Spiders ended up getting the win over the Hawkeyes — but it wasn’t without some controversy.
Late in the second half, Iowa guard Kris Murray went up for a three-pointer with one minute to play and left it short. But, as it turns out, he got fouled and the referees didn’t call it.
That proved to be a big no-call as Richmond went back down the court and got a bucket from Nathan Cayo. He completed the three-point play, and the Spiders managed to hold off the Hawkeyes to get the 67-63 win. It’s their first NCAA Tournament win since 2011 when they defeated Morehead State in the Round of 32.
More on Iowa, Richmond
The Spiders, the 2022 Atlantic 10 Tournament champions, took a 29-28 lead into halftime, but Iowa surged back. However, the Hawkeyes stalled, and Richmond capitalized thanks in large part to Jacob Gilyard and Tyler Burton, who combined for 42 points. Cayo ended up added 15 points in the effort.
Murray started out with a rough day shooting-wise for Iowa, but finished 8-for-15 from the floor, but came up big late to keep Iowa in the game. He finished with a team-high 21 points while Patrick McCaffery also added 18 points to the effort.
Both teams had plenty of momentum coming in as they won their conference tournaments. In fact, that was Richmond’s only path to the dance, defeating Davidson in the A-10 title game. Iowa knocked off Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament championship to secure its place in the tournament field.
The Hawkeyes tried to claw their way back, but wound up falling short — and busted brackets across the country.
It’s a huge win for Richmond, which advances to the second round to take on No. 4 seed Providence on Saturday.